ATLANTA >> The objective seemed clear for a franchise fixated on star power.

With a roster featuring an aging Kobe Bryant and a cast of role players on expiring contracts, the Lakers had spent previous summers setting aside every penny available for a marquee free agent. That strategy in 2014 backfired as LeBron James, Carmelo Anthony and Pau Gasol all rejected the Lakers’ free-agent pitches. The implications did not stop there, though.

Atlanta Hawks forward Kent Bazemore rejected the Lakers’ four-year, $72 million offer last summer before resigning with Atlanta to a four-year, $70 million deal. After joking he made the move to save on taxes, Bazemore admitted his decision partly stemmed from the Lakers declining a $1.1 million qualifying offer to make him a restricted free agent in 2014. After striking out on James, Anthony and Gasol, the Lakers also narrowed in on Jeremy Lin, Nick Young and Jordan Hill before pursuing Bazemore. He agreed to a two-year deal worth $6 million shortly afterward with Atlanta.

“One thing you want in this league is to be wanted. They didn’t pick it up for that little amount of money,” Bazemore told Southern California News Group. “So that showed how much they believed in me and my abilities. That closed that chapter.”

The Lakers still found a proven veteran by acquiring forward Luol Deng last summer at the same price. Yet, the 27-year-old Bazemore is seen as a rising prospect after averaging 11.6 points (on 44.1 percent shooting) and 5.1 rebounds last season.

“He could grow into a good player on both ends,” Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer said. “I think he’s doing a lot of that and has more room to grow.”

Bazemore grew with the Lakers after they acquired him as part of the Steve Blake trade to Golden State in the 2013-14 season. Bazemore had averaged a career-high 13.1 points per game through 28 appearances with the Lakers after the undrafted forward played sparingly in two seasons with the Warriors.

“I still thank the organization for giving me a chance to go out and show I can play,” Bazemore said. “There’s no bad blood. But from the business side, they had their chance.”

Meanwhile, Bazemore had affection for the Hawks, which made the Western Conference semifinals (2015) and Eastern Conference Finals (2014) since his arrival.

“Knowing I wanted to be here was critical for me. Knowing the feeling was mutual with the front office was great,” Bazemore said. “I had a lot of teams knocking, but it didn’t make sense to leave and tear down what I built here.”

Saying goodbye

The Lakers’ radio silence on fourth-year forward Ryan Kelly told the story on his free-agent interest.

“I don’t think we got a feeling there was much of a possibility,” Kelly said.

Nonetheless, Kelly sounded in high spirits for two reasons. He landed on the Hawks’ roster. His wife, Lindsay, is expecting a girl, the couple’s second child. The two have a 1 1/2 year old son named Nile Jeremiah.

After the Lakers selected Kelly 48th overall in 2013, he faced inconsistency with both his shooting and role under former coaches Mike D’Antoni and Byron Scott.

“The last couple of years have been partly on me and partly on tough circumstances. They weren’t the best,” said Kelly, who averaged 6.5 points on 38.1 percent shooting through three seasons. “I always worked my tail off and did what I could for our team. It didn’t always go perfectly. But that’s how I look back on it, pretty fondly.”

Mark Medina has been the Lakers beat writer for the Los Angeles Daily News since 2012. He also works as a Lakers insider for AM570 and is heard on national radio outlets, including The Dan Patrick Show, The Herd with Colin Cowherd, The Chris Mannix Show, Fox Sports Radio, CBS Sports Radio, Yahoo! Sports Radio and SB Nation Radio. Medina also appears frequently on Spectrum SportsNet and NBC4's "Going Roggin."

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